


Screw Thinking, Screw Me Instead!

by otakucat



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: !adultArmin, !adultEren, !gardenerEren, !landscaperEren, !marketerArmin, !modernAU, !oddjobsEren, !sassyArmin, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anxiety, Depression, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Romance, Sassy Armin Arlert, Slice of Life, Slow Build, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-22
Updated: 2017-06-13
Packaged: 2018-09-26 07:41:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9874001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/otakucat/pseuds/otakucat
Summary: Living life, letting go, enjoying the moment. Seemingly simple ideas, but for those plagued by the inability to tolerate boredom and the ever-present anxiety resulting from an overactive mind, they are anything but easy to achieve.Armin Arlert, a young marketing professional, is a prime example of one who is unable to enjoy life as a result of such issues. However, things are about to get interesting and, despite his love-hate relationship with change, a certain aimless, but charming brown-haired man just might end up teaching him to embrace it with open arms.~~~~~ Chapter 5 is where the romance starts kicking in. ;3





	1. Chapter 1: The Beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this is my first attempt at actually trying to write a real, full story that I am gonna finish... so go easy on me! :P I know I am not a professional author or anything, haha, but I am gonna try to make this high quality! =) I welcome any constructive criticism in your comments! :D I really want to keep improving and making this story (and my own abilities in general) even better! =)
> 
> The first 1/3 of this chapter is a bit slow, but things pick up after that! :)
> 
> Also, this has not been beta'd, so there may be some mistakes here or there. Please let me know if you spot anything or if you have any tips for formatting or anything like that! :D
> 
> If you guys enjoyed it, please make sure to leave a comment! =) They will really help motivate me to continue! =D Thanks a bunch for reading! =D

Armin sighed contentedly as a light breeze picked up, ruffling his blonde, medium-length, messily-spiked hair. A small smile found its way onto his face as he thought about his new haircut. Until recently, he had sported a relatively long fringe. He had been worried when he cut his hair, but the new look worked well. It made his wide, blue eyes and cute, yet masculine facial structure stand out even more.

Leaning further against the tree he had perched himself on, he closed his eyes.

Sitting in the shade was relaxing. The sun beating down on him all day had resulted in the cool air and relative shelter quickly prompting his sleep drive to **_finally_** kick in - insomnia be damned (for the moment, anyway).

It had been too long, he thought, too long since he had slept in the cool outside. Cooped up all day in his room, on a train, in an office… The only time he was ever outside was when he was trying to get **_inside_** somewhere else.

Despite being quite aware of his own affinity for the outside – especially in such ideal weather as was currently the case, he rarely found himself taking the time to go out, walk around, and just **_exist_**. Nearly all of his time was wrapped up in ambitions, strangled by the tight grip of routine.

Admittedly, there was a good reason this had originally become the case. When he was younger, Armin had been unable to get much done. This most definitely had not been through any lack of talent, rather through **_too much_** talent – and a desire to utilise it all at once.

In nearly all areas related to mental prowess, Armin was at the top. Similarly, despite his small stature – standing at a mere 5’ 7”, he was also relatively talented in the realm of athletics, gifted with quick reflexes and above average stamina – albeit not at the level of those playing on varsity collegiate teams.

Unfortunately, the seemingly endless options he had been privy to as a result of such intellectual talents had caused him to rapidly jump from hobby to hobby and, within an academic context, subject to subject. He wanted to learn everything and he wanted to learn it all at the same time – until it got boring, that is.

It seemed as if he was gifted with the intellect to pursue anything, only to be cursed with a complete intolerance for boredom. When he was younger, he would spend days completely focused on one subject to an inordinate degree, only to instantly drop it the second something more interesting presented itself. At this point, with his 30th birthday merely 2 months away, Armin was a veritable piggy-bank of random information.

He supposed it could be worse. At least some of the facts he had inundated himself with during his youth proved useful to a small degree in his career working as a marketing director for a firm serving a huge variety of corporations. Still, he strongly regretted not having pursued a more narrow focus of subjects to a stronger degree.

He sighed.

‘Well, there goes the sleepiness.’

Less than five minutes of a pleasant mental reprieve and he was already mired within the confines of self-analysis. He should’ve known.

Closing his eyes again, he took a deep breath and held it to the count of 10, before slowly releasing.

Upon opening them he spotted his friend, Marco, waving at him from across the street. He smiled and waved back.

After quickly looking both ways, despite the street’s clear lack of traffic – for it was in his nature to be overly cautious, Marco jogged across to meet his friend.

At 6’ 4” Marco was noticeably taller than Armin. Despite this, he posed anything but an intimidating figure. The man’s youthful face, featuring a spattering of freckles across his cheeks and nose was almost the very definition of kindness. His soft eyes and slightly turned up lips gave him the appearance of somebody who loved life and as well as helping others; somebody who was happy to help you with your problems because they genuinely wanted everybody to live life as happily as they do.

In contrast to such features, Marco had short cropped hair. All in all, Marco’s appearance caused nearly everybody’s first impression to align perfectly with his personality – the man being kind and genuine, with a relatively successful career.

Armin had first met Marco in 6th grade, when they had been assigned to work on a project together, and the two had been close friends since. Sometimes Armin wondered how they had managed to stay close over the years. Whereas Marco had been shy and the occasional target of bullying when younger, he had changed immeasurably over the years.

Although still soft spoken, he was now more confident and openly friendly. Armin, on the other hand, was **_less_** confident than when he had been a child. Thankfully however, their divergent pathways in terms of outward-showing personality development had produced little effect on how much they valued each other.

 “Hey, Armin! How are you - and what are you doing out here?”

“I’m fine… and not much, just relaxing.”

“Really? Aren’t you supposed to be rushing off somewhere, as per usual?”

Armin laughed.

“Come on, I’m not **_that_** bad… I do chill out **_sometimes_**.”

“Suuuure ya do,” Marco commented while playfully winking.

Armin huffed and rolled his eyes.

“I guess it is pretty rare to see me relatively calm and sitting still, huh?”

“That’s for sure.”

“Haha, well unfortunately, I’m going to have to rush off again soon anyway. I’ve gotta get back home so I can get started on an upcoming campaign for a new candy Nestle contracted our company to market for.”

Marco sighed.

“It’s always something, isn’t it? Too bad, I was just heading down to a bar to meet up with a few friends. I would have loved to introduce you to them!”

“Hmm, well as lovely as that sounds, I’ve really gotta get started on this!”

“Aww, come on, when’s the last time we properly hung out?! It’s been ages! Plus, you and I both know damn well that you are already ahead of where you need to be on this… You always are. Take a breather, come on an adventure!”

Armin exhaled audibly, looking to the side.

“Well, I don’t know how far you can classify going to a bar as “an adventure”, but I suppose I’d be able to take a break tonight,” he stated.

“I just hope I don’t regret it tomorrow…” he grumbled, purposefully being loud enough for Marco to hear.

“What could there **_possibly_** be to regret after a lovely night out with yours truly and my amazing friends,” Marco chirped, far more cheerfully than should have been possible.

Armin tried to be annoyed, he really did… However, despite work and the myriad reasons a night out could be put to better use, he found himself becoming excited - he really did need to spend more time with friends. He even caught himself breaking out into a smile, which he promptly tried to smother down in an attempt to maintain his playfully pessimistic demeanour.

Maybe tonight **_would_** be a fun night, after all.

 

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

 

Armin adjusted his t-shirt and vest before quickly running a hand along the front of his hair for good measure.

Glancing upwards, he took in the bar he was about to enter. Nothing extraordinary, it pretty much resembled your run-of-the-mill, modern offering. The bar’s name, “The Cock and Bull” was painted above the entrance in large, white letters along a green backdrop – with the paint just starting to chip visibly here and there.

It looked friendly enough. However, it also looked **_boring_** enough.

He sighed…again.

Boredom and anxiety, two of his oldest ‘pals’. He really hoped tonight would neither be a snorefest he had to pretend he was enjoying nor an introduction to a bunch of people he just wanted to get away from.

Well, he supposed there was no point worrying about it now, he was about to find out.

With one final exhale, he pushed open the doors and looked around the room.

It was lively enough for 7 PM. Most tables had a few people sitting at them and a good half of the ordering area along the bar was filled, but there were a few free tables and the place was hardly overflowing. The level of noise was acceptable, providing enough background so he wouldn’t feel nervous when speaking, but not loud enough to make it hard to hear.

He thanked science it wasn’t overflowing. He wanted to have fun and some excitement, but he wanted to be able to relax while doing so.

After a moment of searching, he spotted Marco sitting at a table with three other people.

To Marco’s left was a tall, relatively athletic looking man with cropped, two-toned hair. He seemed to be quite high energy, talking animatedly to Marco about something quite loudly. To the man’s right was an attractive, if somewhat apathetic looking, Asian woman. She seemed to radiate the kind of inner strength that would make you think twice before messing with her. Finally, on the other side of the woman sat an extremely tall, somewhat bashful looking man with a buzzcut.

Upon arriving at the table, Armin tapped Marco lightly on the shoulder, causing the other man to turn around and smile.

“Hey Armin, I’m really glad you could make it! I was worried you might end up bailing.”

“Well, if he did, it wouldn’t really matter anyway. We would still have just as much fun,” the man with cropped hair stated.

Marco blanched and quickly reprimanded him.

“Jean, why would say that? It’s going go to be **_much_** more fun with Armin here,” he concluded, looking at Armin with a smile.

‘Oh great, I know Marco is trying to make me feel like it matters that I came, but now I can’t help but feel pressure to be entertaining,’ Armin thought.

“Armin, meet Jean, Mikasa, and Bertolt”, Marco finished, gesturing to each individual in turn.

“Yeah, yeah, so how do you know this guy again?”

Marco ran his hand down his face at the rude way Jean asked his questions. Mikasa, on the other hand, lightly punched him on the arm.

“Jean, be more polite,” she said in a low, but commanding tone; her face nearly expressionless.

Armin shrugged.

“Its fine, I don’t mind. As a marketer, I’m used to people being demanding - and doing so with even less tact than your friend seems capable of.”

“Hmph, I’m capable of tact just fine… when I want to be…,” Jean mumbled to himself.

Armin smiled, feeling slightly more in his element now. It seems that while Jean is used to dishing it out, he’s certainly not left unaffected when the sass heads **_his_** way.

With the introductions more-or-less out of the way – despite Jean’s question not yet having been answered, Armin told the group he was going to get his first drink and asked if anybody would like him to get them one. Marco asked for another cider, Bertolt for a beer, and Mikasa said she was fine for now. Jean asked for a double vodka and coke - Armin finding it unsurprising he should be the one to order the strongest drink.

Within a few minutes, Armin was on his way back to the table with a tray full of drinks. After letting the others take theirs, he grabbed his cider and took the first sip.

He sighed contentedly, feeling relatively pleased with himself for actually making the effort to come out, even if he did have to be coaxed at first in order to do so. Turning towards the three new faces, he asked what type of work they did.

Armin found their answers quite varied. Mikasa was a personal trainer, whereas Bertolt was a programmer - which Armin found fitting, given the man’s shy personality. Jean, surprisingly, was a high school teacher, which must be how he had originally met Marco, also a teacher.

Armin found it hard to imagine Jean reacting well to having his patience tested, but he knew that some people acted extremely differently in the workplace than they did elsewhere. He had to admit that he may have been slightly harsh in his first judgement of the man.

After the initial ‘getting to know each other’ phase had ended, Armin was surprised at how well the conversation kept flowing. He found himself actually enjoying the little get together.

“...well, at that point all I could do was just shake my head and tell him he’d have to take the zero. I felt bad and all, but it wouldn’t have been fair to everybody else if I had given him another chance. I just hope he’ll remember this next time. Although, something tells me the same thing will happen again,” Jean stated, concluding the small story he had been telling the quartet about one of his chronically late students.

Armin snorted, the story reminding him of classmates from his own days in high school.

“There’s always that one guy in every class, isn’t there?” he stated.

“Man, you’re telling me… It’s like some kind of unspoken rule!” Jean replied, laughing and smiling at Armin.

“Thou must be plagued by at least one student per class who will spend more time and effort explaining why they couldn’t do something than it would take them to do it. So sayeth the teacher’s bible!” Armin voice in a mockingly authoritative manner.

“Seriously, though, I just don’t get it…,” Jean sighed, “Oh well, I can’t complain too much. Some of the other teachers’ classes are a lot harder to deal with than mine!”

“Nah, I don’t think that’s true. You’re just a lot better at dealing with things than most teachers,” Marco complimented.

“Heh, thanks man.”

“Wow…and here I was worried for the health of any students who dare disobey the great Jean. I guess under that rude exterior you’re just a big ball of fluff, huh?” Armin teased.

“Pfft, yeah right, just try pissing me off and see what happens.”

“Honestly, yeah, he kind of is a bit of a pushover,” Mikasa deadpanned.

“That’s only to you…and only because the idea of pissing you off is so scary. Seriously Armin, you **don’t** want to see her get angry,” Bertolt warned.

“Haha, thanks for the advice, though I try not to piss **anybody** off anyway,” Armin responded, mentally noting to avoid bringing Mikasa’s wrath down on himself at all costs.

“That’s true. To be honest, you should probably learn to be a bit more confrontational. You’re too worried about what people think or about hurting somebody’s feelings. You need to live a bit more dangerously,” Marco stated.

“Wow, advice about being more confrontational…coming from Marco? Damn, maybe I really do need to be a bit more assertive. Heh, well, I can try…” he replied, knowing full well that probably wasn’t going to happen in the near future.

“Just…don’t try it with Mikasa,” Bertolt jokingly warned.

“Oh come on, I’m not that bad! It’s not like I’m going to snap somebody’s head off just because they don’t bow down at the sight of me! I just don’t like bullshit,” she replied, rolling her eyes.

Armin laughed, “Don’t worry, I wasn’t planning on it! I’ll have to start with somebody like Marco!”

“Hey! Are you saying I’m not intimidating?! I’ll have you know my students definitely know not to argue with me!” Marco responded, faking indignation.

“I think that’s more out of fear for Jean, who they know would rain down on them if they gave you a hard time,” Bertolt commented.

“Ahhh, so **that’s** why you tolerate him, he’s your ‘enforcer’,” Armin sassed.

“Eh, keep that up and you’ll find out how good I am at it!” Jean shot back.

“Oh, I’m sure,” he replied, pretending to suppress a laugh.

Mikasa sighed, “As amusing as it is watching Jean fail to prove his manliness, I think we’ve gotta call it a night. I know it’s only 10, but I’ve gotta get up at 6 for an early training session. It’s been great getting to know you though, Armin! I’m really glad you decided to join us!”

“Agreed, I have to get home and finish debugging software,” Bertolt shrugged, unamused at the thought.

“Yeah, I guess it’s about that time, huh? Ah, well, let’s grab our stuff and head out then,” Marco added.

“It’s been great meeting you all,” said Armin, a friendly smile on his face. “Even you, Jean,” he winked, muffling a laugh.

“Heh, you’re not too bad either, shorty,” Jean replied, sporting a small smile of his own.

“Hopefully we can all do this again soon,” Marco beamed.

Everybody voiced their agreement before saying goodbye and and heading to their respective car.

Armin looked at the ground, smiling to himself. Marco was such a sweetheart - he was glad he was friends with such an overwhelmingly positive guy. Whenever they hung out, it really did help keep Armin from feeling too depressed.

“You actually **did** have a good time, I hope,” Marco asked suddenly, startling Armin out of his thoughts.

“Yeah…Yeah, I did. I’m surprised, but your friends are actually really nice and pretty fun to hang with.”

“Well, of course they are, dummy,” Marco jokingly punched Armin on the shoulder, “Otherwise, I wouldn’t be friends with them!”

“I suppose that’s true.”

“So?”

“So what?” Armin tilted his head, not understanding the short question.

“Well, are you really planning to come again next time we meet up?”

“Heh, well it depends on how busy I am…,” he stated, glancing to the side.

“Arminnnnnn,” Marco drawled out, clicking his tongue.

“Fine, fine, I’ll be there,” he grumbled back, knowing Marco could tell he wasn’t truly trying to avoid it.

“Good! I still have a few more people I’d love for you to meet! I think we’re gonna get together again on Friday. I’ll let you know for sure tomorrow. Well, see ya soon,” he finished, waving goodbye and heading to his car.

‘ **More** people?’ Armin thought, wondering what he’d gotten himself into.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Note: Don’t worry guys, this is gonna be totally Eremin… Eren will be introduced to Armin in the next chapter, this was all set up for that. :)
> 
> Eren and Armin FOR LIFE! :D


	2. Part of the group

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, this chapter is almost TWICE as long as the previous one! :O I can't believe I've already written this much! :D
> 
> Please comment, bookmark, kudos, fistbumphighfive the screen ;) if you like the story! :P It is really motivating! :D
> 
> As always, let me know any constructive criticism you have, whether it be style, formatting, or anything else! :D

Fidgety…

Fidgety and distracted.

Yes, those were the two words that could best be used to describe a certain blonde-haired man right now.

Try as he might, Armin was unable to focus on the work at hand. Taken by itself, this wasn’t necessarily unheard of. However, given the situation – the brainstorming phase of an experiential marketing plan for a large and exciting client, such a lack of focus **_from Armin_** was definitely questionable. After all, these were the moments he usually got the most involved in; the moments his strengths shined the brightest.

He sighed, running a hand down the back of his neck.

Pulling out his phone, he was it was 2:30 PM. He would normally be in full on flow right now. Throughout the afternoon, he had been trying to get there, but he knew it was time to admit that it just wasn’t going to happen today. His thoughts kept wandering to the meetup he agreed to attend tonight with Marco and his friends.

He was excited, yet anxious. He knew the three he had already met were nice, but Marco had mentioned introducing Armin to **_even more_** people this time.

What if he made an ass out of himself this time? What if the new ones didn’t like him…would the first three change their minds about him? What if the larger meeting resulted in everybody talking about things they had experienced as a group? That would be the worst, he’d prefer almost anything to being bored and having to fake interest.

He shook his head. No, he wouldn’t think like that. If nothing else, Marco would try to make sure that didn’t happen. Not that he assumed it would anyway - Mikasa, Bertolt, and even Jean didn’t seem like the type to more or less completely forget somebody’s presence.

Remembering that he was still at work, he snapped out of his thoughts, glancing down at the paper on his desk and groaning. The paper he had meant to be brainstorming on was still mostly bereft of anything useful.

Well, one distractible afternoon really wasn’t too bad in the grand scheme of things, he supposed. As this was just the project’s first stage, they would continue brainstorming throughout the rest of the month. He could make up for it then. Besides, maybe what was distracting him now would be the catalyst for a great idea he could use for the project.

 

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

 

_*buzz buzz*_

_*buzz buzz*_

 

Armin stretched his body while rolling over to turn off his phone’s alarm. Having been unable to get much work done, he had chosen to leave the office around two hours early, deciding to take a nap once home.

Yawning, he stood up and looked out the window. It felt nice to see how bright it still was outside. He had missed the warmer, brighter weather during the winter months. Although, the warmer seasons certainly didn’t come without their own problems.

_*ahhh-choo*_

Yes, that was one issue he had with this kind of weather, hay fever. Thankfully, the pollen count had been extremely low thus far, so it hadn’t been too much of a problem. He hoped it remained that way for the rest of the season. If not, he did have medicine he could take. However, he hoped to avoid having to do so on a daily basis, as the medication caused fatigue and he really didn’t feel like turning into a low-level zombie if he didn’t have to.

Well, he’d think about that if the time came. Right now he needed to concentrate on getting ready to go out for the second time in four days – and it wasn’t even the weekend yet!

_‘Man, oh man, what’s going on with me? Going out twice on weeknights, **voluntarily** meeting new people I know nothing about. At this rate, I won’t be able to complain about not having a life anymore. And **then** what’ll I do? That’s my favourite thing to mock-complain about!’_

He chuckled to himself.

It’s not like he expected the rate of social events he attended to continue at this level. Sometimes the mood just struck. It’d be nice if he were this social on a regular basis, but he knew that his good mood was likely to end soon anyway, prompting yet another social retreat for who knows how long. Things had been that way for so long now, he didn’t have much faith anymore that it was going to change.

He was just thankful somebody like Marco cared enough to stick around despite how annoying it must be to deal with. Armin wanted to be a more reliable friend, regularly chatting and visiting with those he cared for, he just found it so hard.

Armin exhaled and pushed such thoughts from his mind, he wanted to enjoy this good mood while it lasted.

Turning away from the window, he began undressing.

After a quick shower, he threw on a black v-neck t-shirt, a black hooded waistcoat, and ripped black skinny jeans. He finished up by throwing on a pair of black supra hi-top skate shoes.

All black. It was simple, but it worked. Thanks to Armin’s horrible fashion sense, this was the best way to make sure there were no horrible colour coordination issues.

Taking a quick look in the mirror, he couldn’t help but wonder when he’d finally dress ‘like an adult’. He really liked this style, but he knew it wouldn’t work forever.

He groaned just thinking about trying to change to a more mature look. Armin’s non-existent fashion sense meant he’d probably end up looking like an idiot for at least a month before he found style that worked. It’d take him even longer to actually end up liking it on himself. Thankfully, his marketing firm didn’t encourage dress formality. As with most creative companies, people were allowed to wear what they wanted.

After messily spiking his hair up, he was ready to go.

He quickly checked the clock next to his bed, which read 6:35 PM.

_‘Good, I won’t be late. I hope I’m not earlier than most people though. I don’t want to sit in a corner alone and bored or awkwardly drinking with one of Marco’s friends while we wait for everybody else.’_

Armin debated waiting 15-30 minutes before leaving, but was less excited about the prospect of being the last person to turn up and having to sheepishly join the others than he was about waiting a little while at the bar.

With that decided, he grabbed his keys and headed out the door.

 

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

 

Just as Armin had feared, he found himself alone with one of Marco’s friends while they waited for everybody else to turn up.

He shouldn’t have been surprised this was the case, traffic had been extremely light for a Friday evening and he did live the closest out of everybody he had already met that would be attending.

Maybe he should’ve texted Marco to make sure he had already arrived before walking in. Maybe he should’ve walked out to wait in his car when he first saw there was only one person at the party’s reserved table. He definitely should **_not_** have walked closer to see who it was and accidentally made eye contact with the man in the process.

And now, now it was too late. Once they made eye contact, he knew it was too late to head back out to his car without seeming like a massive dick later.

So here he was, sitting across from a relative stranger, expected to make conversation for who knows how long.

_‘Man, situations like these feel more like work than my actual job sometimes,’_ Armin thought.

He **_really_** hated feeling like he was expected to entertain.

_‘Well, I guess I’ll just have to try and make the best of it. The others can’t be too long off now anyway.’_

“Hey! I’m Eren…and you must be Armin, right?”

“Heh, yeah, that’s me. How did you know?”

“Well, you’re the only person coming tonight who I don’t already know. Plus, Marco had Jean show me a picture of you on Facebook last night.”

“Why did he do that?”

“Oh, well he said that he and the others might be a bit late today, so he wanted to make sure I’d recognise you in case you got here before they did. That way I could let you know what’s up, so you wouldn’t think everybody was late or that the night had been cancelled.”

Armin laughed.

“Umm, **_almost_** everybody **_is_** late.”

“Ha, I guess you’re right, dude. Well, you still have me here, and I’m awesome enough to make up for the rest of those guys not being here yet,” Eren stated, a wide, infectious grin on his face.

“Mmhmm, I guess you’re right. At least I’m not waiting alone here.”

_‘Urgh, why couldn’t I just be allowed to wait alone? It’d be so much easier… Damn you, Marco!’_ Armin thought.

He knew Marco probably had this all planned out. Setting it up so Armin would be alone with one of his friends for a while before everybody else arrived. He appreciated Marco’s efforts to get Armin out of his shell – and on a deeper level knew that this type of thing was exactly what he needed for a happier life, but he really didn’t want to be dealing with it.

He supposed he should be thankful that Eren seemed nice enough. It didn’t feel like the man had any expectations of being entertained by Armin either. For that, he was thankful.

If he didn’t have to worry so much about whether or not he was doing a good enough job making sure the other wasn’t bored, it might not be so bad spending a few minutes getting to know him. He seemed pretty interesting, after all. For once, it might even get to be Armin who was able to sit back and be entertained by another’s thoughts.

But first, a drink. He had noticed Eren already had a mostly full cider in front of him, so he decided to go get one too.

“Be right back, I’m gonna go get a drink.”

“Cool, see ya in a bit.”

While waiting at the bar, Armin processed his first impression of Eren.

When he first saw him, he wasn’t sure what to think. He was a few inches taller than Armin and had a thin, yet athletic build. His medium brown hair was only a couple of inches long - not long enough to be called a fringe, yet somehow messy enough that “bedhead” was the only word for it. Armin still wasn’t sure if it was done intentionally or not. Either way, he thought it suited him. As for Eren’s clothes, he wore a simple black t-shirt featuring white graphic art in the middle, a pair of indigo skinny jeans, and a set of classic black converse.

Based on their conversation thus far, he thought Eren came across as rather friendly and nice. Armin was willing to bet that he could be pretty entertaining to hang out with, if also a handful. He seemed like the type who more or less did what he felt like, when he felt like it, without being weighed down by excess thought baggage. Of that, Armin was jealous. He often thought about how much easier life must be for people like that.

“Here ya go, one pint of Armored Titan. That’ll be $3.50.”

Relinquishing his previous train of thought, Armin turned to the situation at hand, reaching into his wallet and handing the man a $5 bill. After getting handed his change, he thanked the man and brought his drink back to the table.

“Kind of an odd name for a drink, huh?” he asked Eren, while sitting down in the chair across from him.

“Haha, yeah, I guess so. It’s made by a local brewery that sells a few different drinks. All of them are named Titan something-or-other. They’re pretty good. I dunno if you checked it out yet, but the art on the labels is pretty crazy too. I think it’s cool, but some people are turned off by it.”

Having thus far been under the assumption that he lived closer to the area than Eren, he was surprised to find himself less knowledgeable on the subject of local businesses than the other man. He supposed he could chalk it up to his firm generally taking on larger, national and multinational clients instead of small, local businesses.

Still, that couldn’t really explain his lack of knowledge on the subject of social lubricants. It wasn’t like he was 90 and unable to walk out the door anymore. The reason was clear: he didn’t get out and do enough with people in his free time - and he had absolutely no excuse for it.

“I really need to get out more,” he mumbled, half to himself and half to Eren.

Raising his pint, Armin studied the drink’s label.

“Woah,” he let out, his eyes widening slightly.

The art **_was_** pretty intense. It featured a giant, muscular looking humanoid crashing through a huge wall, with debris falling, crushing people beneath.

“Damn, I can see why the label might make some people uncomfortable. That’s pretty violent!”

“Yeah, it is,” Eren answered, “Like I said though, at least it’s more interesting to look at than most beer labels! The art is pretty good too.”

“Hmm, I can’t argue with you there, it’s definitely not boring! I guess you can use the drink as kind of a ‘prude radar’ too,” Armin laughed, “If you see somebody drinking it, then you know they’re most likely not some uptight, ‘traditional morals’ asshat.”

“I guess that’s true,” Eren let out a small laugh, meeting Armin’s eyes and smiling.

“Although, you could swing that the other way and say if they like that kind of art they may be more likely to be some kind of creepy stalker or murderer!” Armin finished with a gasp, his eyes widening in fake fear.

“Hmmm,” Eren voiced, stroking his chin in an exaggerated display of contemplation.

“So are you afraid **_I_** might be some kind of deviant now?” he asked jokingly, wiggling his eyebrows before smiling deviously.

“Oh, I **_know_** you’re a deviant,” Armin responded, the hint of a smirk showing.

“Le gasp! How could you! You’ve barely known me for 5 minutes and you’re already making assumptions? I’m hurt!” Eren finished, putting on a shocked and upset expression.

“Heh, what can I say? With some people, you can just tell,” Armin teased.

“Well, that doesn’t sound very fair,” Marco’s voice spoke from behind Armin.

“I’ve spent the last half hour worrying that when we got here we’d find Armin feeling under attack by Eren,” he continued, “Now that we’re here, what do I find? Armin on the offensive! I’m sorry I told you to play nice, Eren. Apparently I was wrong – it seems Armin has just been **_pretending_** to be shy about these kinds of situations.”

“Heh, oh, I can tell. He’s a little social butterfly, isn’t he?” Eren smiled, meeting Armin’s embarrassed gaze.

Armin huffed, standing to greet Marco.

Upon turning around, he saw Jean, Mikasa, and Bertolt behind Marco – in addition to two new faces. The first belonged to a man even shorter than Armin. He sported a buzzcut and his thin frame was covered by long shorts and a red shirt featuring some sports team logo that Armin couldn’t identify. The second newcomer was a woman slightly taller than Eren. She had an average build, with long brown hair and was dressed in a green button up shirt and blue jeans.

After introducing the newcomers as Connie and Sasha, the recent arrivals went to get drinks.

Once the group returned, everybody took a seat and the conversation picked up again.

“Phew! Man, am I glad it’s finally the weekend,” Connie laughed.

“Hmmm, is your job particularly demanding?” Armin wondered aloud.

“Hah, I work at a small diner. It isn’t generally too busy, so it shouldn’t be, but when you’re a chef and this one,” he gestured to Sasha, “works with you. Well, I end up having to cook twice as much! She keeps eating half of the side dishes I leave out while I’m making the rest of the meal to go with it.”

“Hey, what can I say? I like fries.”

“No, Sash, you **_love_** fries… And burgers, and sandwiches, and -” Connie began listing out until he was interrupted by Sasha.

“Okay, okay, I get it!” she agreed, laughing.

Turning her gaze to Armin, she leaned over in his direction, speaking in a pretend whisper: “I **_may_** like food a little too much.”

“Hmm, good to know. I’m sure I can use that to my advantage somehow,” Armin deadpanned.

“I’m not sure whether he’s being sarcastic and I should be annoyed or if he’s just openly evil and I should be scared,” Sasha shot back, playing along.

“What if he’s both? He could be a sarcastic supervillain?”

“Nah! He’s way too much of a softie. He doesn’t have it in him!” Jean spoke up, getting revenge for Armin’s comments from the other night.

“He’d make a better villain than you, Jean!” Eren spoke up.

“What was that? In that case, he’d be five thousand times the villain you would!” Jean countered.

“I… I don’t know if I am being complimented or insulted right now,” Armin whispered to Marco.

“Heh, they always do this. They make every little thing into a competition. You just happened to become their ‘measuring stick’ this time.”

“Wow, it must get annoying if they are constantly going at it…”

“Nah, it’s not too bad. It’s more of a friendly rivalry anyway. They are actually pretty close.”

“I think we can all agree Mikasa would make the best villain,” Bertolt chimed in.

Though a few grumbled to themselves in disagreement, nobody was willing to be the voice of dissent out loud. Especially not after Mikasa cracked her knuckles intimidatingly.

Throughout the next hour conversation flowed nicely. While there were a few times Armin felt bored, awkward, or didn’t know what to say, they were short-lived and soon forgotten. All considered, he was having a good time.

After a couple of drinks, when Marco got up to go to the bathroom, Eren came over and stole his seat next to Armin.

“Hey, dude,” he said, half-turning his body toward Armin.

“Hey. What’s up?”

“Hmm, not much”, he shrugged, “It was just getting boring on that side of the table.”

“It’s a lot less boring now that you’re gone,” Jean interjected.

Looking over, Armin saw Marco sitting where Eren had been. He hadn’t even commented on his seat being taken. He was happily chatting away to his other friends now.

“Pfft, yeah right. I can see it in your face, it’s clear that you’re dying of boredom. Oh yeah, I forgot, that’s how your face always looks.”

“Only when I’m around you, because that’s just how boring you are. Your mere presence makes me physically unable to feel joy.”

“So, he’s like… a joy-vampire then?” Armin offered.

“Exactly,” Jean smiled smugly.

“Armin, how could you?” Eren frowned.

Armin laughed.

“Don’t worry, I wasn’t agreeing with him! I like talking to you. I just can’t stop myself - whenever I think of something like that, I have to say it!”

“…still could’ve saved it and used it against him later instead,” Eren grumbled.

Looking down at the table, Armin could feel himself sporting a wide smile. He really enjoyed being able to tease Eren like this. He wouldn’t say it out loud, but normally he didn’t have the confidence in himself to make jokes at anybody’s expense. Even when he knew it wouldn’t really hurt their feelings, he was afraid to open those doors. He didn’t want to risk upsetting somebody or accidentally getting hurt by them in return.

He found it rather funny. First Jean, now Eren. He’d only just met Marco’s friends this week, but he already felt able to joke around with them like this. It wouldn’t be correct to call himself comfortable with them, but he did find his anxiety was noticeably lower than it normally would be with a group this size of relatively new people.

Looking back up, he apologised, “Heh, sorry. Next time, I’ll wait until the proper moment to strike at Jean.”

“That’ll never happen. I don’t give opportunities, I’m way too amazing for that!” Jean boasted.

“Hah, yeah right. You’re basically one big opportunity,” Connie shouted.

“Yeah, well you’re one little opportunity!”

“That doesn’t really work…”

“Shut up!” Jean replied lamely, clicking his tongue before turning back to Marco to resume his previous conversation.

“Do I still need to save my next one for Jean?” Armin asked, turning towards Eren, “I think he just got himself anyway.”

“Yes, you do! You must insult Jean at least equally as much as you do to me!” Eren huffed.

“What is that, a new natural law? Armin’s law: The proportion of sass directed at E must be lesser than or equal to the proportion of sass directed at J.”

“Wow, somebody went into full on professor mode,” Eren replied, “I like it, though. It’s different than most jokes you hear,” he finished, smiling.

“Hah, thanks, I’ve always had a slightly different sense of humour. People generally seem to enjoy my comments, but it just falls completely flat with some people. It can be super awkward then,” he laughed, rubbing the back of his head.

“Hmm, yeah, I can imagine… It sucks when you’re around people who are so fundamentally different that you basically can’t even get them to see humour in any of the same things.”

“Yup, and it’s especially true for me since I pretty much just say whatever joke comes to my mind as soon as I think of it. As long as it isn’t too inappropriate, of course. After so many years, I’ve finally developed **_a small_** ability to verbally filter.”

“Ha, I **_still_** say the inappropriate ones whenever I want!” Eren replied proudly.

“Yeah, and how well has that worked out for you over the years?” Mikasa voiced, “You’ve lost multiple jobs because you couldn’t keep your mouth shut… not to mention all the issues you had back in school…”

“Yeah, well as least I’m not afraid to be myself!”

“True, that’s definitely one thing nobody has ever accused you of. On the other hand, you have been accused of rudeness, recklessness -”

“Pftt, whatever. People can think what they want.”

Armin sighed, “I wish I had your confidence.”

“It’s not confidence. It’s just lack of consideration,” Jean retorted.

“Call it whatever you want, it’s the same thing.”

“Not really.”

“Whatever… You’re just as bad anyway!”

“No, I’m just confident,” Jean replied.

At that, Armin laughed out loud.

_‘Man, they really are the perfect pair to watch argue,’_ he thought, smiling to himself.

“What’s got you grinning over there?” Bertolt questioned – surprising, for he seemingly preferred the role of (mostly) silent observer.

“Just, just…them,” he motioned nebulously toward Eren and Jean, “Honestly, sometimes I can’t tell if their back-and-forth is scripted, and other times it’s such a disaster that I don’t even know what to think.”

“Yep, that’s pretty much them. Your opinion is unlikely to change even as you get to know them better. I think we all still feel how you described.”

“Hmm, well, at least it’s not boring,” Armin replied. In his mind, this was actually quite a large plus. After all, if there’s one thing he can’t stand, its boredom.

“Hang around these two long enough and you may start to find boredom preferable.”

_‘Somehow, I doubt that,’_ he thought.

“Hey, take that back! We are absolutely **_lovely_** to be around,” Eren interjected, “when Jean isn’t being a dick, of course.”

“The only dick around here is you,” Jean replied lazily, the fire in both men’s words seeming to have cooled.

Turning to his left again, Eren began questioning the blonde.

“So, what do you do for a living?”

“I’m a marketer,” Armin laughed, “Usually that is one of the first questions people ask each other. Funny you’re just now wondering.”

“Hmm, yeah. Well, I didn’t really get to find out much about you before everybody else got here and I’m curious. I wanna know more about you.”

Armin admired how open Eren was when he wanted to know something. He may not be a master of finesse, but his candour was refreshing.

“How about you?”

“Well, I’ve changed jobs a few times, but for the past year or so I’ve been doing landscape design and... gardening,” he blushed.

Armin raised an eyebrow, “Wow, that’s… pretty unexpected.”

_‘Wow, I thought he was going to say he worked at a brewery or something. I guess you really can’t judge a book by its cover,’_ he mused.

“Ha, yeah, people are usually pretty surprised. I guess I don’t come across as having enough patience for that kind of thing… It’s different than with people though. I like watching the garden come to fruition… You can really see the changes you’ve made. Plus, the technical and design aspects of landscaping demand a certain degree of engagement. So there’s always that. It’s not nearly as boring as you would think!”

“I guess a plant’s growth is a lot more transparent than a person’s, huh?” Armin mused, “With a plant, you can feel secure in the fact that you’ve had a real effect on it, that you truly helped it grow.”

“Ha, maybe that’s part of the reason I like it. Who knows? I never thought too deeply about it. I just decided to try it, realised I like it, and that was enough for me.”

“So you think you’ll stick with this then?”

“For now, yeah. If I get bored and can’t seem to shake it, I’ll change,” Eren shrugged. “I don’t want to be stuck in a job I can’t stand. I’d rather change again and have to start at the bottom then be bored all day,” he finished, gazing out one of the bar’s windows.

Armin couldn’t agree more on that.

“That said, it’d be nice to settle on something. That way, I can start looking for a position in an established company and build myself a more secure future. I’m freelancing at the moment, so it’s not exactly the most secure gig in the world,” Eren spoke. “Not that things are going badly!” he quickly added, “Business is actually going quite well. Who knows, maybe I could even open my own **_real_** company someday, with actual employees and all,” he laughed.

Armin smiled. It was a nice thought. Eren seemed like the type who really got passionate about whatever he was doing at the time, even if that changed more frequently than it did for most people. He was sure Eren could make an inspirational company leader.

Armin just hoped the brunette was eventually able to find a career that interested him enough over the long term that he stuck with it. Having spent his childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood all struggling to find just that, he could really relate with Eren in that respect.

The blonde didn’t know what his life would look like right now if he hadn’t decided to try out a marketing module while studying at university. Would he also have a large history of job-hopping, like Eren? Would he even have found the motivation to keep getting new jobs? Suddenly, he had a newfound respect for Eren’s perseverance.

Armin smiled, “I’m sure you could. I can tell just from the few hours I’ve known you that you’d be able to make it happen. Once you’re sure what it is you wanna do – whether that’s landscaping or whatever, you’ll definitely get there.”

“And wow, I’m sure that sounded like the cheesiest and least helpful advice ever,” he laughed, “especially since I barely know you. Whatever, though. Who doesn’t like hearing something positive?”

Smiling in return, Eren replied, “Well, it definitely was cheesy, but I’m glad you said it. It actually means a lot that you think I’m cut out for that kind of responsibility.”

“…eventually,” Armin laughed, sporting a cheeky grin.

“Yeah, yeah, don’t worry, I’m not about to run off and try it right now,” Eren huffed.

Their conversation was interrupted when a loud yawn prompted both men to turn towards the other side of the table.

“Tired, Sash?”

“Yeah, I’m beat.”

“You look it,” Jean remarked nonchalantly.

“Shut up, Jean,” she replied, too tired to fake venom.

“Well, you did have an extra-long shift today, I’m surprised you lasted this long,” noted Connie.

At this, Armin pulled out his phone, surprised to find it was already 11:45 PM.

“Same.”

“Well, I think we’re probably gonna head off now,” stated Connie, both he and Sasha now gathering their belongings.

“Yeah, I’ve got some partying to do tomorrow anyway,” spoke Jean, “gotta make sure I’m still fresh enough for that!”

_‘Ah yeah, tomorrow is Saturday. I forgot that a lot of people still like to party it up through then,’_ thought Armin.

“Do you guys go to parties a lot then?” he inquired.

“Of course, nobody can get enough of me!” Jean answered, puffing out his chest.

“Yeah, right,” Eren rolled his eyes, “We don’t really go to parties **_that_** often. Maybe like once a month or something and they aren’t nearly as crazy as they were when we were younger.”

“We usually end up going as a group too, or at least a few of us together,” Mikasa added, “Jean is going by himself tomorrow, though. It’s a party some old friends of his are throwing, so he wants to make sure he spends enough time actually hanging out with them.”

“Sounds nice, I hope you have fun,” Armin told Jean, before turning toward the others to ask if anybody else had any big plans.

Most answers boiled down to having the kind of standard, relaxed respite he expected.

“Now I don’t feel so bad about not really having anything exciting planned this weekend,” Armin offered with a chuckle. “Not that I usually do anyway,” he sighed in mock defeat.

“Well, now that you know the gang, you should come out with us sometime!” Marco suggested.

“Yeah, next time we plan on heading to a party or something we can let ya know, if you want?” Eren quickly followed up.

“It’d definitely make things easier having another Eren and Jean wrangler at hand,” Mikasa added, Bertolt nodding in silent agreement.

“Hmm, I dunno if I’m ready to sign up for **_that_** role yet, but yeah, it’d be awesome to tag along the next time you guys do something,” Armin finished with a smile.

“Cool, well, we’ll let ya know then. We’ll add you to facebook through Marco so we can get in touch,” Connie confirmed, “but right now we’re actually gonna head out the door before Sasha collapses.”

Sparing a glance at the woman, it was clear she really was quite tired.

_‘An extra-long shift in the service industry would probably do that to anybody, though,’_ thought Armin.

“Sounds good, see you guys!”

A chorus of similar statements flew through the bunch and within a few minutes Armin was back in his car. While he definitely looked forward to some time to himself, a small part of him did feel disappointed that his weekend would be so predictable.

“Pfft, yeah right. What I am thinking? I know full well what I want and that’s not to be stuck entertaining anybody else. People can be such a chore,” he spoke aloud to himself, that small part still meekly protesting, yet too buried under the years of habitual emotional self-reliance to gather enough breath to be heard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There ya have it, Eren and Armin have finally met! :D


	3. Chapter 3: Change? This time, I'm committed!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long! I was super busy with schoolwork and other things until recently. I will be able to update regularly again now, though! :D
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter. Next chapter will be a more active, impactful one I think. Armin will be at a par-taaay! ;D

Armin couldn’t believe it was already 5 PM…on a **_Sunday_**.

Ugh, where had the weekend gone?

Pretty much nowhere really. As per usual, he had spent the weekend watching anime, playing online games, and reading books. Not a bad weekend, he thought, but certainly not memorable. It was almost as if it hadn’t happened. It just kind of blended into his perpetual pattern of safe, semi-boredom.

He knew he **_could_** have gotten in touch with one of the old friends he infrequently saw and arranged to hang out, he **_could_** have finally gone to one of those meetup.com anime group meets. He could have done a lot of things, but instead he did what he knew he would, he took the easy route – the one that was probably slowly killing him.

While we wouldn’t say that his weekend had been a waste, if he was honest with himself he didn’t really feel all that refreshed either. Weekends used to re-energise him, now they seemed to do little more than allow him to catch up on sleep. When had everything he used to love started to feel so bland?

It was a catch-22. He could either spend his weekends doing what was sure to be relaxing – yet which was becoming more and more boring as time went on, or he could go out and actually do something spontaneous – at the risk of being **_even more_** bored or ending up completely drained even before work started on Monday.

He sighed.

It wasn’t that long ago that he wouldn’t have had these kinds of thoughts at all.

_‘God, I must be approaching my final evolution now. Ch-Armin-zard, the adult Ch-Armin-der, wielding the power of responsibility and introspection in lieu of fire.’_

“I deserve to be hit, that pun was horrible,” he muttered to himself, equal parts glad and sad that nobody was here to do so.

_‘An object at rest tends to stay at rest. Right, Newton? Well, the same holds true for the opposite – and I think I’ve been at rest for long enough.’_

While it wasn’t the first time he had resolved to get back into the habit of regularly living life –friendships, spontaneity, **_uncertainty_** , and all – something deep inside of him felt more ready to make a **_real_** effort toward doing so than he had in a long, long time.

 

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

 

“Good work, Armin!”

“Thanks! I’m pretty happy with it too.”

Armin’s boss, Erwin, was a tall blonde with slicked back hair and an agreeable, but focused disposition. He was kind and valued his subordinates’ opinions, while expecting everybody to work to the best of their ability. In Armin’s mind, this made him the ideal boss - approachable when necessary, but generally letting everyone do their own thing (the second point being particularly important due to Armin’s potential distractibility).

“Ha, I’m glad to hear it. What’s the ETA on this campaign’s preliminary portfolio?”

“I should be done by Wednesday, Thursday at the latest.”

“Sounds good. By the way, Krista’s having some trouble on the Uniqx campaign, do you mind going to help her out for a few hours after lunch? She’s having a hard time with the initial conceptualisation process, so I think you’d be the best choice to help out.”

“Sure thing, you know that’s my favourite part of the process anyway. If I could just do the conceptualisation… well, I’d probably get bored if I was **_only_** conceptualising, but you get the point,” Armin trailed off with a grin.

Armin smiled to himself as he began picking up where he had left off. While he was known for putting out some of the most creative and effective campaign ideas, he still felt proud that out of all of the employees – some much more experienced and prominent within the organisational hierarchy than himself, he had been Erwin’s first choice to offer assistance for the most important stage on a difficult deal.

 _‘If only I was considered such an invaluable asset when it came to socialising too’,_ he thought, trying his best to convince himself that his current (lack of) social life wasn’t his own fault, but knowing full well that many people **_did_** find him fun to be around and **_had_** tried to become his friend – only for him to brush them off due to his anxiety highlighting the dangers of emotional ties and change.

Shrugging to himself, he kept working, quickly losing himself to the flow of work engagement.

Soon, it was lunch. After spending the hour by himself (as per usual) drinking tea and eating a toasty in one of the nearby coffee shops, he went back to the office. Once he had dropped his bag at his desk, he began looking for Krista.

The search was a quick one, with Krista being in her usual spot. In fact, if she had been anybody else, it wouldn’t have been a search at all. After all, most employees’ heads were visible above the low barriers separating office sections. Krista was the only one short enough that you couldn’t be sure whether she was there or not until you arrived in the actual section and could see her desk.

Sometimes, Armin was jealous of that fact. While she was usually on time, in the odd cases where she did come late, most were none the wiser – having just assumed she had been there the whole time.

 _‘Hmph, I gotta be small enough that I’m a certifiable ‘shortie’, but not short enough that I get the perks of being a sneaky pocket ninja. What the hell is that?_ ’ he thought, in reality glad he wasn’t any smaller than he already was.

Not that Armin minded being short - he thought shortness was cute, but it would be a hassle if he were any smaller. He knew this from Krista, who often complained about seats being uncomfortable or having to ask for help when accessing upper cabinets.

Once Armin spotted her, he walked up to her from the side, making sure he was visible from her peripheral vision. He knew better than announce himself or tap her shoulder from behind. Krista was notorious for over-the-top reactions when being surprised – which happened quite easily anytime something unexpected happened, even as small as someone approaching her unaware. The amount of times she had spilled coffee, or tea, or water – really, any liquid she drank – all over herself after being innocently approached from behind was larger than she was.

“Hey Krista.”

“Hey!” she replied, turning to Armin and smiling.

He smiled back – a genuine smile. Something about the woman was so kind and gentle – yet definitely not **_weak_** , that he often found himself feeling good in her presence. He thought of her as somewhat of a kindred soul. She seemed to share many similarities with himself beyond even the immediately visible physical ones like hair colour and height. While not to the same extent as Armin, she was talented at her job. She was also visibly enthusiastic about her work, yet somewhat reserved when it came to office socialising.

 _‘She’s also beautiful,’_ he thought, _‘Man, if I were straight I’d have it so bad for her.’_

The statement was probably true, Krista being hugely popular with the male population. It was rather ironic, as she had no interest in them. That was another thing they had in common, both being gay.

Armin remembered when he first found out. It was around a month after he started working at the company. A large group of employees on their floor were going to celebrate one of the older men retiring and Armin accepted the invitation along out of politeness.

After a couple hours at the bar and around 30 minutes of talking to each other, Krista flat out asked Armin if he was gay. While he didn’t walk around announcing it with a loudspeaker, he wasn’t in the closet either. So he answered yes, asking why she wanted to know. She just smiled and said “me too.” They’d been good ‘office friends’ since, often spending most of the time speaking to each other when they were forced into office events out of politeness or protocol.

“So, Erwin said you needed some help with the Uniqx campaign, right? Well, I guess nobody else was available, because he asked me to provide assistance.”

“Pfft, shut up. You know you’re good. Not good enough that I’m gonna sit here feeding your ego, though,” she finished, a fake look of scrutiny accompanying her sassy tone.

“I dunno if I like that tone of voice. Here I am, offering time out of my **_busy_** day, when I’m already so burdened by my own deal and you can’t even graciously accept me as the saviour I am? Hmmm, maybe I’ll go see if Kitz can help you out instead. After all, I’m not even **_that good_** anyway,” he finished, pretending to look around for the man.

“Don’t even think about it. I said I needed help, not extra work! Besides, if you do that, I’d have to tell everybody what you did at the Christmas party last year,” she grinned evilly.

“Yeah, but then you’d have to say what **_you_** were doing too! And that would tarnish your sterling reputation,” he shot back.

“Grrr, fine. You’re so so amazing. Now can you help me before either I throw up or your head gets so large it explodes?”

“There we go! Yes, I as the amazing and benevolent marketing god I am, **_shall_** offer you my assistance, my little marketing peon,” he answered, putting his hand on his chest and looking upwards to emphasise his display of altruism.

“Yaaaay,” she stated flatly, half-heartedly throwing her arms up in the arm and waving them in obvious fake excitement.

“You’re still not that good, though,” she whispered, just loud enough so he would hear it.

“What was that?” he questioned, pretending not to know what she said.

“Nothiiiiiing,” she sing-songed, “Now let’s get to work!”

By the time 5 PM rolled around, the Uniqx campaign was in a much better place. Armin had come up with a fantastic experiential marketing concept that was able to help tie together the rest of Krista’s well-conceived integrated marketing communications plan.

“Welp, I think you’re pretty much good to do the rest of this by yourself, right?”

“Yeah, thanks a bunch for the help!”

“No problem. Let me know if ya run into anything else ya need help with!”

“Sure thing. Though I doubt I will, I’m not that incompetent, ya know,” she finished, knowing Armin was just being friendly and not underestimating her.

He laughed.

“I know, I know! Honest-time: I **_do_** know you have loads of talent. I’ve told you that before. Don’t forget it,” he smiled, offering up a rare moment of genuine emotional openness.

Krista’s eyes widened, before smiled back, lightly blushing from the praise.

“Thanks Armin, I really appreciate that! By the way, can I ask if something has happened to you lately? You’ve seemed a bit happier than usual lately and now this… A genuine, relatively unprovoked, heartfelt comment. Something must be up!”

"Not really. The only thing I've done differently lately is hang out with a few of Marco's friends the other week. It wasn't really a big deal or anything."

"I'm glad to hear you've been socialising a bit more! We **_both_** need to make more of an effort in that department," Krista replied.

Armin huffed, silently agreeing.

The two said their goodbyes, Armin heading back to his desk to grab his bag and head home.

On the way out, Armin considered. **_Had_** he been happier lately? Maybe a little. He didn’t think there had been that much of a difference, but if Krista had noticed, maybe the other week’s socialising had more of an impact than he had thought.

‘ _Damn, maybe I’ll have to actually make an effort to do something like that again soon_ ,’ he grudgingly, excitedly thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please kudos and comment if you enjoyed it or have any advice for how I can improve my writing/characterization/story-telling! :D


	4. The Party Begins

Eren dropped the PS4 controller, loudly shifting from his position sitting on the edge of the couch to laying down face first into it.

“Jean, I’m boreeeed,” he moaned.

“Then do something.”

“Ughhh, you’re no help. If you can’t even amuse me why I am even sharing an apartment with you?”

“Because you can’t afford to live on your own and you’re too much of a baby to do it even if you could.”

A _whooshing_ noise was heard briefly before a yelp and a curse.

“What the hell?! You dumbass, now there’s water all over the kitchen!”

Eren smiled, his pillow missile had hit its target perfectly.

“Whatever, it’s just water. It’ll dry up by itself anyway. Probably’ll just help clean the place.”

“Yeah, but **_you’ll_** manage to slip in it and nearly kill yourself before it does,” Jean deadpanned.

“Yeah right, I’m like a dog or a cat. I’ll be fine. Now you, on the other hand, are more like a horse. You’re the one in danger of slipping.”

“Eren, cats hate water…”

“And horses don’t live indoors. I think we’ve busted more than a few animal myths today, Jean.”

_*whoosh*_

The pillow hit Eren square in the face, sliding down to reveal a mischievous, excited grin.

“Haha, now you’re getting into the spirit of things!”

After the spontaneous, none-too-gentle pillow fight concluded, Eren was back on the couch again, wondering what else he could do to amuse himself.

“Hey Eren.”

“Yeah?” came the man’s reply, muffled by the couch pillow his face was currently planted in.

“Guess who just texted me?”

“…”

“Hmm, well I guess you aren’t bored enough to care then. Never mind,” Jean finished smugly.

“Uggggh, fine. Who texted you?”

“Franz. I haven’t heard from him in ages. I don’t any of us have since he moved from the area.”

“Yeah, I didn’t think so either. Weird… What’d he want…and why’d he text **_you_** instead of somebody **_better_** , like me?”

“Pfttt, better at being lame maybe.”

“That insult doesn’t even need replying to. You dug your own grave with that one Jean.”

“Shut it. You aren’t worthy of the mental effort required to produce a good insult.”

“It’s only effort to you, Jean. It’s easy for the rest of us.”

“Then how come **_you_** never have any good ones?”

This time Eren blushed.

“Jean, you just don’t have the mental capacity to understand my sophisticated sense of humour. Everybody else is awestruck by my insults!”

“Suuuure,” Jean replied, rolling his eyes.

“Anyway, he said his aunt finally bought her own apartment, so he’s gonna be back in town for a week to help her move the last of her stuff out of his house. He thinks that’s only gonna take a day or two, so the rest of the time he’s gonna spend chilling out. He said she’ll be out of the house by Thursday morning, so he’s gonna throw a big party this weekend to catch up with everybody!”

Eren bolted upright.

“Awesome, I am **_so_** down! A party is just what I need to change things up!”

Jean chuckled, “Yeah, I thought you’d be up for it.”

“I said I was _down_ , not _up_.”

“I can text him right now telling him not to let you in.”

“As if he’d let you in, but not me! Anyway, thanks for letting me know, I’m definitely looking forward to the weekend now! By the way, Franz owns a house down here too? How does he even own two houses already? He’s only our age.”

“Some people have talent and, ya know, work ethic,” Jean replied flatly.

“Jean, that attitude is why you don’t have a boyfriend.”

“Eren, that,” Jean gestured at the other man head-to-toe, “everything is why you don’t either.”

“Ass.”

“Idiot.”

“…”

“Jean, I’m boreeeed, fight me in this game!”

 

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

 

By Wednesday evening, the party had long since receded to the back of Eren’s mind, the man’s thoughts tending to be much more occupied with the now than the future. Specifically, how not to be bored in the present moment.

“Man, I can’t wait for the new Zelda game to come out. I’m getting bored of this game.”

“Then why are you still playing it? And yeah, me too. It’s gonna be **_awesome_**!” Jean replied, actually allowing his sincere enthusiasm to bleed through, unrestrained for once.

Eren laughed, “Damn, you might be even more excited for it than I am! And meh, cause there’s nothing else to play.”

“You’ve got, like, 100 games on Steam you haven’t even opened yet.”

“Those suck.”

“You haven’t even tried them… And you **_bought them_** because you said they “seemed cool”,” Jean stated, rolling his eyes.

“There’s too many to try now, though!”, Eren whined back, “And they looked cool then, but not anymore! I can’t help it if they look boring now, can I?”

“Eren, you bought like, 10 of those last week…”

“That doesn’t change what I said.”

“Whatever. Anyway, Franz’s party is only a couple days away…and I’m willing to bet we’re all gonna end up getting preeeeetty wasted. You should enjoy having the reflexes and presence of mind to play them while you can, haha. You’re more of a baby than the rest of us, so it’ll take you longer to recover.”

“I’m the baby? Remind me who it was that was crying for painkillers and death after the last party?”

“Yeah, because you mixed a bunch of vodka and shit into my cider without telling me… I was trying to have a chill night, not a spirit journey slash near death experience, asshole!”

“Haha, well it’s the only way to get you to lighten up, horseface,” Eren shot back.

“But man, it’s gonna be weird seeing Franz again after all this time, huh?“ he mused.

“Yeah,” Jean replied, “it’s been ages. I wonder if he’ll seem really different?”

“Probably not. He’s always been pretty responsible anyway, being an adult will have changed him a lot less than it has us.”

“Eren, you’re **_still_** not an adult.”

“Lame.”

“True.”

“Whatever. Anyway, it’ll definitely be nice seeing Franz again, but man, how am I gonna keep this party **_actually a party_**? If it’s just the usual gang it’s gonna be kind of quiet, don’t ya think?,” Eren inquired.

“Well, it’s not **_just_** our group. Franz is inviting some people he was friends with that we weren’t. So there’ll be some ‘fresh blood’ for your idiocy to infect too.”

“How many other people do you think are coming?”

“I dunno, I didn’t ask for specifics. If I were guessing based on what he said, maybe, like, 15 to 20 people besides us?” Jean answered after brief consideration.

“Hmmm, that sounds pretty good. A few of those people should be pretty cool. I mean, time has proven that the universe has some kind of rule that your lameness must be evened out by somebody else’s awesomeness at every gathering. And as awesome as I am, not even I can balance out **_that much_** lameness!”

“First of all, I’m **_far_** less lame than you are. Second of all, when has this _‘rule’_ of yours ever been proven?”

Eren paused, stroking his chin in thought while loudly ‘hmming’, very clearly mocking the idea it would take more than a single moment to recall such a time.

“Oh, I don’t know, how about the other week when we all met at the bar?”

“So who in the group _supposedly_ balanced out my - clearly non-existent – lameness?”

“Well, it’s always a group effort to have **_any_** chance of balancing, so we were all trying our hardest…and thankfully the universe provided Armin! A hero who shall henceforth be known as the saviour of fun, the knight of enjoyment, the slayer of Jean’s lameness! A task, might I add, that so many have valiantly undertaken and fallen victim to, becoming a shadow of their former selves for the duration of their exposure to the toxic substance of Jean-tonite.”

“Jean-tonite? You’re not even being consistent… First my ‘lameness’ is a beast, then some sort of kryptonian-type rock… Well, which one is it?”

Eren shook his head.

“See? You’re doing it again. Consistency is lame. And fyi, it’s both. A rock monster… and whatever else I think of in the next few minutes. Because I’m cool and you’re lame, so suck on that.”

“Ha, well at least I’ll be sucking on something before you! When’s the last time you had any? Your lack of sex life must be where all your _annoying-ness_ has come from lately. Althoughhhh, you were already pretty annoying before you’d ever even had any. Must be some kind of curse.”

“It’s better to be annoying than lame.”

“I can stop speaking to reduce lameness, you’d have to stop existing to reduce your annoyance.”

“Yeah, yeah. You’re lame, I’m not. Whatever, blah blah,” Eren answered distractedly, typing on his phone.

This surprised Jean, usually Eren tried to get the last word in.

“What’cha doin’?”

After a brief pause, Eren stopped typing and looked back at Jean.

“Texting Marco to ask for Armin’s number so I could invite him to the party. I think he’s cool, I wanna hang out with him again!”

“Nice, it’d be cool to hang again. So what’d he say?”

“Nothing yet. He’s probably driving home or something. I’ll tell ya when he answers.”

“Coolbeans.”

“Jean, I thought we **_all_** agreed you would never use that word again. Not after that summer in high school…”

 

 

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

 

*buzz buzz*

_‘Weird, that almost sounded like somebody sent me a text. I must be more tired than I thought, clearly I am hallucinating. Somebody actually trying to contact me? Ridiculous!_ ’ Armin thought half-jokingly, before glancing toward his phone to confirm his suspicions.

_‘Meh, it’s probably some spam from Pizza Hut or some personal insurance scam,’_ he decided, turning back toward the road.

A good 10 to 15 minutes after arriving home and settling in, he finally checked his phone.

 

Sender: (1298756371)

Received: 5:10 PM

Yo Armin, this is Eren. Ya know Marco’s friend from last week. The cool one, not the horse. ;O Hope you don’t mind I asked Marco for your number! I just wanted to ask if ya want to come with us to a party this weekend one of our old friends is having. It’d be cool to hang again, I had fun talking to ya last time! If ya can’t make it cuz of work or something, that’s cool tho.

 

 

Armin felt a small rush of nervous adrenaline course through him. He knew he had just been convincing himself to put himself into those kinds of situations more frequently, but he didn’t think he’d have the opportunity handed to him on a silver platter **_so soon_**.

He wanted to say yes, but he was afraid of how it would go. He wanted to say no, but he knew he’d hate himself a little more if he did, and he didn’t know how much more self-loathing and stagnation he could handle.

He typed yes, then deleted it, then typed no (along with an overly elaborate fake excuse), then deleted it. He typed yes again, then proceeded to stare at his screen for a full minute, biting his lip and agonising over all of the potential outcomes.

_‘Fuck it, it’s like a band-aid, just reply before you can even think about it.’_

Closing his eyes, he breathed in, before finally hit the send button as fast as he could.

Looking down at the screen he actually felt excited. Nervous too, but now the adrenaline wasn’t quite so bad. He did it, he took a chance and now he had to stick with it. He actually committed to it instead of crawling under the metaphorical rock and pretending not to see the text until it was too late - like usual.

_‘See Armin, you can do this! It’s time to actually live life, fucking pretending I am happy enough with how things are now.’_

Now in a good mood, but still full of that initial surge of anxious energy, he decided to work it off with a home workout session, before playing some video games to take his mind off things.

 

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

 

Sender: Armin (1859377304)

Received: 6:04 PM

Yes

 

Sender: Armin

Received: 6:05 PM

Whoops, the rest of the message got deleted. XD I meant to say yeah, I wanna go. It sounds cool and it’d be nice to hang out with you all again too! :D What time/day and location will it be? Thanks for inviting me btw, it’s nice of you to think of doing so! J

 

Sender: Eren (1298756371)

Received: 6:27 PM

Haha, well just so you know, I’m not doing it out of kindness. It’s for my own selfish benefit. I don’t want to be left alone with Jean. D; Also, the balance must be maintained!

 

Sender: Armin

Received: 6:29 PM

Lol, I can understand that. ;P And “the balance”? :3

 

Sender: Eren

Received: 6:30 PM

Lol, don’t worry about it for now. Ask Jean about it at the party! XP Anyway, I’ll let ya know the details as soon as they have been confirmed. J

 

Sender: Armin

Received: 6:37 PM

Awesome, sounds good!

 

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

 

The next few days passed by both too slowly and too quickly for Armin’s taste. He wanted to go to the party so life wasn’t so damn boring. He wanted the party to be far off in future, so he didn’t have to worry about it. He wanted the party to be over so he could relax, sure that he hadn’t made an ass out of himself and safe in the confines of his boring routines. Most of all, he just wanted to settle on a concrete feeling instead of the jumble of anxiety and anticipation he was constantly fluctuating through.

Then, finally… the day arrived.

Looking at himself in the mirror, he was unsure whether he looked more cute or dorky… If he was fully honest with himself, it was probably both.

‘ _Oh well_ ,’ he thought - that suited his personality pretty well, so he was fine with it.

Dressed in goth-style skinny jeans – chains and all, a tight dress shirt, and sporting a big pink and purple tail – not to mention whiskers drawn on his face in eyeliner, he felt he had pretty much nailed the gothic neko boy look.

He laughed.

_‘If they hadn’t already known I was gay from Marco, they certainly would now.’_

Armin didn’t make a habit out of attending parties in such a fashion – not that he attended many at all, but Eren had informed him it was to be a costume party and he didn’t want to be the only one making a low effort.

Making a few minor tweaks to his outfit, he took one last look in the mirror, grabbed his keys, and headed out the door.

A short drive later and he was at the provided address.

After sending a quick text to both Marco and Eren letting them know he had arrived, he walked up to the house and rang the doorbell.

While he waited, he considered how quiet it seemed inside. He could tell people were there, but it wasn’t blasting overly loud music or any other excessive noise. For that, he was thankful.

After a short 30-second wait, the door opened.

“Hey, Armin!” Marco greeted cheerfully.

“Hey,” he replied, his words accompanied by a brief wave.

“Wow, you look cute! I haven’t seen you go neko in years, haha.”

“Heh, yeah. Since I stopped going to Halloween parties, there hasn’t really been much reason to dress up. You look good too. A bit more generic than you used to dress up as, though,” Armin finished with a grin.

Marco laughed in response. The man was dressed up as a ‘sexy cop’. While he clearly put a bit of effort into personalising it, the costume was far different than the over-the-top efforts Marco has used to do when they were younger.

“I can’t deny that. Anyway, come on in. Most of the people you know have already arrived.”

Armin followed Marco through the main entrance and into the living room, where he could see around 15 people had gathered. People were laughing and chatting, and there was some light music in the background, but all in all it seemed pretty chill for a party. Armin was pleased.

To his left he saw – well, _heard_ first – a few of the group Marco had introduced him to before, Jean and Eren locked into a half-hearted display of bickering. Just before he was about to start approaching the group, they spotted him.

“Armin? Hey dude, get over here!” Eren shouted excitedly.

Now in the spotlight, Armin felt a brief surge of anxiety again - though it died down quickly. Once he was in the moment, actually living the experience, it was harder to dwell on what ifs, should haves, and possible outcomes.

The blonde waved and walked over.

“Hey, guys,” he greeted, looking more closely at the group. Jean was dressed as a vampire – a choice Armin couldn’t help but smile at, given Eren’s previous ‘joy vampire’ comment, Mikasa was dressed as a military officer (which Armin found oddly fitting for her), and Eren as a werewolf mid-transformation.

Judging by the amount of detail he had put into his costume, Eren clearly took these kinds of parties to heart. Armin was willing to bet that he would go all out come Halloween. The thought made Armin smile. He hoped he’d get to see whatever Eren came up with - he just had to stay strong enough to keep fighting against his lifelong habit of emotional distance.

If he relaxed his newfound motivation to change, even for a second, he knew everything could come tumbling down in an instant. He’d stop replying to invitations again, stop bothering to make an effort, and fall back into his old, painfully safe life.

“Wow, you look pretty good as a werewolf, Eren… and I’m not usually into body hair!” Armin joked.

“Haha, thanks, you look super adorable yourself!”

“Oh, get a room you two,” Jean interjected, rolling his eyes.

“Pfft, it’s not like that, SOME people just managed to look good today… Others, not so much,” Eren replied, quirking a brow back at Jean.

“Agreed, standing next to you two, it’s like beauty and the beast...and despite the choice of costumes, Jean, you’re the beast,” Armin shot back.

“Marcooo, look, they’re ganging up on me,” Jean whined.

“Well, you probably deserved it then,” Marco replied – Jean gasping at the (usually) kind man’s heartless choice not to defend him.

“Oh, he so did,” Armin replied with a chuckle, “he insinuated that Eren and I were going towards dating!”

“Hey, what’s so bad about me that you have to put it like that?” asked Eren - half out of playfulness, half out of honest curiosity.

“Hmm, nothing really, I think you’re pretty cool. It’s more like: ‘Me? Dating? Yeah, right.’ It’s been aaaages since I’ve been really been interested in anybody, let alone out on a date.”

“Really? It doesn’t seem like it. I thought you’d be pretty popular with guys,” Eren responded, honestly surprised.

“Thanks…but yeah, I dunno. I guess maybe I kind of just stopped bothering. It just seems like most guys aren’t my type…and I’ve got issues with anxiety and depression too… It’s hard to convince yourself to go looking when you don’t feel ready, even though you know you may just be convincing yourself you aren’t ready to avoid any potential pain or disappointment…” Armin trailed off.

“Damn, you need a drink,” Jean interrupted, placing a glass with some non-descript, alcoholic substance inside.

“What is it?”

“Who cares, you need it.”

Armin shrugged and took a sip. After all, he was right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My first chapter featuring an Eren POV section! :D


	5. Party Time!

Parties were **_fun_**.

Armin couldn’t believe he had forgotten how nice it was to let loose and go crazy. For someone as creative as himself, the amount of restraint and routine exercised on a non-stop basis were shocking. In fact, were one to stop and ponder, it would seem almost paradoxical. After all, seeing things differently, making odd decisions, even the process of **_change itself_** were nothing if not the core foundations of creativity.

Under different circumstances, Armin might have stopped to muse over such things. However, in the present moment, he was far beyond such thoughts. Right now, the promise of fruitless rumination could do nothing to distract him from having another –

“Vodka and diet coke! Here ya go, dude,” Eren handed the drink to Armin.

“Thanks. What’d you get?”

“Same as you. It was easier to just pour two of the same thing,” Eren laughed.

“Ha, I guess so.”

Turning away from Armin, Eren scanned the scene before them.

“Man, the party is really starting to kick off now, huh?” Eren offered - half-question, half statement.

Despite the relaxed talking point, Armin could tell Eren was thinking about something heavier than one would initially assume. The glazed over look in the man’s eyes was subtle, but enough of an indicator for Armin to pick up on. He had only known the man for a short while, but he could tell the gaze was different from Eren’s standard tipsy one.

Almost instantly the look vanished and the man turned back toward Armin with a smile.

“Sure is,” the blonde answered, curious but unwilling to pry.

“I’m glad, should be a good night! I’m also glad you’re still here, haha…I wasn’t sure if you’d have been scared off or not by now,” he finished with a wink.

“Pftt, oh come on, I’m not **_that_** bad! I have been to – and survived,” Armin continued while rolling his eyes, “multiple parties before, ya know.”

Eren raised his eyebrows and smirked.

“Just… not recently, is all,” the shorter man finished.

“Yup…and that, my friend, is why we have to make sure you get blasted this time, haha! Gonna have to make sure quality makes up for the lack of quantity.”

“Hmmm, well getting so shitfaced I don’t know what’s going on isn’t exactly my idea of quality, ya know. I’d like to be able to remember tonight,” the blonde replied.

“Heh, well, I’ll try to keep that in mind. Still, we have a long way to go before you reach that point anyway!”

“True, true. Alright then, let’s keep it going,” Armin relented with a smile.

“That’s the spirit,” Eren slapped Armin’s back encouragingly.

Armin coughed at the action.

“You’re only tipsy and already starting on the domestic violence? My, my…” Armin joked, finishing with a ‘tssk’.

“Doesn’t that mean we’d be in a couple?” Eren questioned, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Ha, yeah right,” Armin replied with a smile, grabbing Eren’s sleeve to drag him over to the table for another drink.

 

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

 

By midnight the party had reached its zenith.

Everybody who was going to get drunk was more than sufficiently so and a number were already reaching the point where they had begun to chill on the couch or sit on the patio out back.

There were still a good number of people dancing and a few playing ring-of-fire (a drinking game Armin had experienced for the first time around an hour ago), but things were noticeably less hectic and loud than they had been. Armin figured the combination of Franz wanting to avoid upsetting the neighbours right after moving in and a few of the guests having to work during the weekend had resulted in the party moving a bit faster than usual.

To be honest, Armin found the current state of things more to his taste. The party atmosphere was still intact, but everything felt slightly more laid back. He didn’t feel as if he had to drown himself in enthusiasm just to keep up anymore.

Well, that was how he **_assumed_** he’d feel if Eren wasn’t still intent on making this “a night to remember”.

Personally, the night was already more than memorable for Armin. Still, the blonde wanted to show his appreciation for the invite and the man’s genuine interest in building a friendship. As such, Armin did his best to keep up with the energetic brunette – whether that meant dancing or downing another cocktail.

After another half-hour of such activities, even Eren was sufficiently drunk.

Despite – or, potentially, because of - the duo’s somewhat considerable state of inebriation, the two were enjoying themselves. Currently dancing rather amusingly in the middle of the living room, the two represented part of the last few still shakin’ it. The rest, while still drinking, had retired to more relaxed activities.

As the current song reached its end, Eren stopped dancing and pulled Armin into a rather sudden hug.

Armin laughed.

“What was that for?”

“Dunno, I just felt like it,” Eren answered with a shrug before grabbing Armin’s shoulders and directing him to the drinks. The two grabbed another round and then plopped down on the couches.

After setting their drinks on the small table beside the couch, Eren unexpectedly leaned sideways, settling his head on Armin’s shoulder with a tired huff.

“Man, I’m tired.”

“Ha, **_you’re_** tired? Think about me! You’re used to this kind of thing. This is so out of character for me, though…”

“Hmmm, it’s not like I do this kind of thing every weekend, ya know. I just do it a bit more often than you.”

“Really? I kind of thought this was pretty standard for you,” the blonde replied.

“It used to be. Now that we’re all responsible adults, that isn’t really the case anymore.”

After a couple silent minutes during which the two were happy to just relax, Eren spoke up again – seeming to pick up right where he left off.

“It’s why I’m really glad you came. I think you’re awesome and I had a great time hanging out with you tonight. It wouldn’t have been as fun if I only had Jean and the rest to hang with – not that I don’t enjoy chilling with them too.”

“Really?” Armin laughed, “I’m like, the most boring person ever. The rest of your friends seem like so much more fun!”

“I don’t think you’re boring at all. Just because you aren’t constantly insulting everybody with non-stop banter or setting up events doesn’t mean you’re boring. Honestly, that stuff can get old after a while. I like your sass, its way more fun than everybody’s rehashed banter.”

“Thanks, that means a lot…but, did you say ‘sass’ or ‘ass’? Because now I don’t know if I feel comfortable with you being drunk and so close to me,” Armin teased.

The blonde thought he felt the brunette grin against the crook of his neck, but was too drunk to be sure.

“Hmmm, I wonder. Both are pretty good, but I’d have to make sure about the second.”

Suddenly, the brunette pulled himself off of Armin’s shoulder and slid closer to the blonde. Without warning, Eren pulled the shorter man into his lap, circling his arms around his waist for good measure – and giving a loose squeeze in a light-hearted show of preventing Armin’s immediate mock escape attempt.

Armin laughed.

“Dude, what are you doing? The couch was more comfortable!”

“Well, you asked a question…I just gotta make sure which one I like better before I answer it! I’ve had plenty of your sass already, so I know how much I like that. Your ass on the other hand…,” the brunette trailed off, finishing up with a stereotypical over-the-top evil laugh.

Armin leaned back and closed his eyes, feeling the other’s heartbeat against his back.

“Well, I’m pretty sure which one you’ll end up preferring. I’ve got a pancake for a butt. Ever heard the term ‘the larger the sass, the smaller the ass?”

“Nope!”

“Well, I can’t say I’m surprised. I just made it up, after all,” the blonde replied with a smile, “Plus, I’m pretty sure almost all stereotypical overweight women in pretty much all forms of media would beg to differ with me.”

“Well, it actually might be true in your case,” Eren said, stifling a laugh, “Seriously, are you **_trying_** to stab me with your ass bones? I didn’t think an unexpected hug warranted such violence in return!”

 “You didn’t, huh? Well that **_that_** and **_that_** and **_that_** ,” the blonde replied, leaning quickly to the left and pushing downwards before doing the same to his right in a show of ‘stabbing’ Eren’s lap with his butt-bones.

“They’re called ‘ischium’ by the way.”

“Hmm?”

“The butt bones…it’s what you’re supposed to call them.”

“Yeah, but it’s a lot more fun to call them ‘ass bones’, don’t cha think?”

“…can’t argue with ya there.”

Armin let out a deep breath, closing his eyes again and leaning back into Eren.

“Hey, I’m trying to breathe back here,” Eren jokingly protested of the action.

“Shut up, you lost the right to complain when you decided you’d be more comfortable than the couch. Furniture doesn’t get to whine.”

Eren gasped. “So mean!”

“Hmmm, well in that case I think I really will check out your ass – in the name of science and your earlier question, of course.”

Despite the other man’s words, Armin felt no unusual movement beneath him. He laughed and decided that Eren really was a pretty good guy. With all of their joking around he could have easily grabbed Armin’s butt. Even when drunk, however, Eren was seemingly pretty respectful of personal boundaries.

“Go ahead – that is, if you don’t mind your hands getting all ‘cut up’,” Armin finished with a tired laugh.

“Ha, normally I’d value safety, but I dunno when I’m gonna get another chance like this,” the brunette joked, finally touching the blonde’s butt in earnest.

Armin shook his head and laughed at the action, “…and the verdict is?”

Eren squeezed a few times, as if testing the quality.

“Hmmmmm, I’d have to say despite some quality sass and a bony first impression, your ass is pretty good too! I’d give it a 7 out of 10.”

“Only 7?!,” Armin gasped in mock anger, “Why you…,” the blonde mumbled before playfully ‘stabbing’ Eren a few more times with his butt.

“Fine, fine, I surrender! I give it a 9!”

“That’s better,” the blonde replied, leaning backwards fully into the other man. He was becoming quite tired.

He felt Eren’s arms circle around him again in a light hug and smiled. Armin didn’t know if it was the alcohol or what, but unlike the awkwardness he’d normally feel in response to such an action, he actually kind of enjoyed it.

By this point, both men were feeling the effects of the night’s drinking quite heavily. The conversation began to slow down as the two grew increasingly tired and light-headed – the blonde soon relinquishing his seat from on top of the other in order to mark his glorious return to the couch’s divine cushions.

“Hey, Armin…” the brunette began, the slight slurring of words betraying how drunk the man now was.

“Mmm?” Armin, equally drunk, replied with minimum effort.

“You really are pretty awesome,” Eren replied, yawning.

“That didn’t sound too convincing,” he stated, too tired to fake disbelief.

“Hmph, well it’s true. You’re pretty cute too. I can’t believe you’re single.”

“Ha, thanks - and same. You aren’t too bad yourself.”

Eren made a half-assed huff. “Never a full compliment, huh? I wanna find out what’s underneath all that sass someday.”

“Fine then…just this once, I’ll give the sass-free special. You’re a good-looking guy, Eren. As for the other comment… Trust me, nothing you want to see.”

Eren sighed. “Sucks I’m too drunk to remember that compliment in the morning.”

“Why do you think I was willing to say it?” the blonde replied, finally depleting his last ounce of sass for the night, “I’ve got an image to maintain.”

The brunette huffed.

“Well, despite your best efforts, I actually kind of like it.”

“Masochist.”

“Ha, maybe… Wanna find out?” the brunette whispered in Armin’s ear, kissing him on the cheek quickly and wrapping his arm around the blonde before he could protest.

‘ _What the hell…what was that?_ ’ Armin wondered, ‘ _…and did I like it_?’

After only a second or two, Armin found he couldn’t be bothered thinking about it anymore. He was tired and wanted to sleep.

‘ _Whatever, we’re drunk. Standard booze convos and standard booze actions are to be expected. Not like either of us will remember in the morning_ ,’ he reasoned before drifting off into sleep.

 


End file.
